A wide variety of substances have previously been formed into microcapsules and microbeads in order to improve their ease of handling and for other reasons. For example, it is known to microencapsulate small drops of dyes and to coat the microencapsulated dye onto one face of a backing sheet. The coated sheet then serves as a substitute for carbon paper, since the impact of a typing element of a typewriter upon the coated sheet ruptures the microcapsules and allows the dye to flow from the ruptures and mark the desired character upon an adjacent sheet of plain paper. The coated sheet has the advantage over normal carbon paper that mere finger pressure will not rupture the microcapsules and thus the sheet can be freely handled without risk of staining the fingers.
During microencapsulation, a small drop or crystal of an active substance, typically about 0.1 mm in diameter, is surrounded by a thin film of a capsule-forming carrier material. In contrast, a microbead comprises a solid, substantially spherical particle of the bead-forming carrier material with the active substance dispersed therethrough. The carrier material not only prevents the active material from running (if it is a liquid) but also isolates the active material from the external environment. For example, an easily oxidizable substance can be stored in microencapsulated form without undergoing oxidation by atmospheric oxygen. Many biologically-active materials are susceptible to chemical changes during storage and microencapsulation is one possible way of protecting such substances from chemical change during storage. Moreover, if a microencapsulated biologically-active material could be produced which was suitable for injection into an animal body the active material could be released slowly into the blood stream as the capsule-forming material dissolves, thereby achieving the same type of "controlled release" action with injectable preparations as is achieved with orally administered large capsules which gradually dissolve within the alimentary canal.
Unfortunately, most previously known microcapsules or microbeads cannot safely be injected into an animal body without producing anaphylactic shock. The coating carrier material of an injectable microcapsule or microbead is desirably one which will dissolve in the blood stream in order to allow the active material within the microcapsules or microbeads to be released and to prevent undissolved microcapsules or microbeads blocking blood and other vessels. This obviously rules out synthetic resins as carrier materials. It is known to produce microbeads and microcapsules from proteins such as albumin (either natural albumin or albumin derivatives such as albumin active esters and albumin active intermediates), and it might be thought that such microbeads and microcapsules would be suitable for injection, since of course, albumin in its native state can readily be metabolized in an animal's bloodstream. However, albumins are globular proteins having a complicated stereochemistry which depends upon subtle chemical interactions between various parts of the protein molecule. The natural stereochemical configuration of a globular albumin molecule is easily destroyed by heat, changes in pH or chemical reagents and once this natural stereochemical configuration has been changed, the albumin is no longer readily metabolized in an animal's bloodstream. In order to employ albumin as a carrier material in microbeads and microcapsules, it is necessary to effect some form of cross-linking between the albumin molecules and the previously known techniques for effecting such cross-linking of albumin (temperatures of 50.degree. C. or higher, sudden changes in pH, or chemical cross-linking agents such as formaldehyde and glyoxal) cause physical denaturation of the albumin and changes in its stereochemical configuration, usually by formation of lysino-alanine bridges. The resultant physically denatured protein microcapsule or microbead is not immunologically-acceptable. Although microcapsules or microbeads made from polylactic acid can be injected, the preparation of polylactic acid microcapsules and microbeads presents great technical difficulties.
I have now discovered that, by cross-linking albumin under appropriate, mild conditions, microbeads and microcapsules can be produced which can safely be injected into an animal's blood stream. The preparation of such albumin microbeads and microcapsules is not technically difficult. Moreover, although the mild cross-linking technique of my invention is primarily useful for the formation of microbeads and microcapsules, it may also be employed to produce macroscopic masses of cross-linked albumin having non-albumin materials dispersed therethrough and these larger masses of cross-linked albumin may be useful as implants.